The Backstory, Or: Just Where The Heck Does It All Start?
If you have decided to write a novel, the story that exists within it extends way beyond the book itself. This ‘backstory’ is what helps give your book depth: here are a few points to keep in mind about the ‘past’ of the book you’re writing.
A novel may encompass any period of time, from an hour or two to many centuries. Yet this span of time, no matter how great, is finite; it has a beginning and an end that coincide with the start and finish of your book. Yet we all know that time itself is limitless - so what happened to make your story happen?
This act - the incident that sends your hero or heroine zooming along their roller-coaster ride through your book - is not the start of your story, though it is the event that starts your story. Let me try to explain this, on the face of it, baffling statement.
The event that starts your story is the one that turns your lead character’s life upside down. This event, decided upon by you, can be almost anything, depending on the story you wish to tell - aliens land and invade earth; he or she loses their job; war breaks out unexpectedly; they are kidnapped and have to escape - virtually anything at all. Its sole reason for happening is to jump-start your story into life and set the ball rolling - without it, there would be no story to tell.
Yet the story doesn’t start at this point. You see, your story is made up of two main elements. The first is your plot - the second is your characters. In order for these characters to be believable and to have ‘life’, they cannot just spring into existence from nowhere. Now I realise that your characters only have the life you give them but you, in your book, are only writing about a certain part of their life - not usually all of it (unless you are writing another Forsyte Saga!).
It therefore follows that your characters must have had a ‘life’ before we meet them within the pages of your book. All of them were born somewhere, grew up, went to school, fell in love, got married, had kids - the normal, everyday things that happen. Or maybe not. Maybe that even-tempered guy who in your book runs a floristry business once did time for robbery. Or that little old lady who you have decided will sell coffee in the mall was a member of the French Resistance during WW2.
Crazy? Hey, much crazier things have happened, believe me! The point, however, is that suddenly these two characters have added depth. They now have a ‘backstory’ - something that happened to them in the past that shapes their life now. It’s imperative that all your main characters, certainly, should have a comprehensive backstory, or there’s a chance that your story may lose it’s reason for being. Imagine:
Chris bangs open the batwing doors in the saloon, stalks inside and comes to rest in front of Bart. ‘Your time’s up, pal’ he snarls, pulls out a big .45 revolver and shoots Bart dead. Dramatic, yes - but why did he do it? People don’t usually behave this way, even in times when life was counted as cheaper than it is now. However, consider this:
Chris has known Bart for years. Maybe Bart stole something belonging to Chris? Land? A gold mine? A girl? He’s given Bart many chances to make amends because once, years ago, they were good friends. Bart won’t give the thing he stole back and just recently he’s added insult to injury by stealing something else belonging to Chris. Result - Chris shoots him dead.
This embryonic plotline shows how Chris and Bart’s backstory is essential. Without it, the scene above would have had one man shoot another for no reason we could think of - baffling for a reader and, in the end, uninteresting. As the opening scene in your novel it would also be mystifying but, when the backstory is fed to the reader, the reason becomes clear.
The backstory to a character - and the way each character relates to another - is the mortar that cements the bricks of your novel together. Bring your characters to life by giving them a past and you will ensure that your readers will see them as real people. Once this happens, your readers start to care about your characters - and you have the makings of a novel that no-one will be able to put down until the last page!
Steve Dempster writes articles for the web and works of fiction. If you would like to get the know-how a novelist needs, visit his site at http://www.howtobeawriter.co.uk/page11.html
Short Stories Vs. Novels
Short stories have not always found their place in great literature. Thanks to great writers like Edgar Allan Poe, Ernest Hemingway, Anton Chekhov and others, short stories have received great notoriety.
Short story writing is a unique art and vastly different than novel writing in form and purpose. Where novel writing is complicated, has many things going on and creates a world of possibilities, short story writing focuses on a quick, powerful impact.
Charles May wrote, “If the novel creates the illusion of reality by presenting a literal authenticity to the material facts of the external world, as Ian Watt suggests, the short story attempts to be authentic to the immaterial reality of the inner world of the self in its relation to eternal rather than temporal reality.
“If the novel’s quest for extensional reality takes place in the social world and the material of its analyses are manners as the indication of one’s soul, as Lionel Trilling says, the field of research for the short story is the primitive, antisocial world of the unconscious, and the material of its analysis are not manners, but dreams.
“The results of this distinction are that whereas the novel is primarily a social and public form, the short story is mythic and spiritual. While the novel is primarily structured on a conceptual and philosophical framework, the short story is intuitive and lyrical. The novel exists to reaffirm the world of ‘everyday’ reality; the short story exists to ‘defamiliarize’ the everyday.
“Storytelling does not spring from one’s confrontation with the everyday world, but rather from one’s encounter with the sacred (in which true reality is revealed in all its plenitude) or with the absurd (in which true reality is revealed in all its vacuity).”
Thus writers of short stories take a different approach and use different techniques than that of novel writers. Rather than looking at the outward world for familiar like the novel, the short story looks at the inward world of the individual and tries to defamiliarize the outside world. By doing so the short story is a powerful way to point out individual and social misunderstandings.
As a result the reader of short stories can focus on the pivotal climax of the short story as the peak of what the author is trying to get across. The art is to see the short scenes before the climax and how the make the pivotal moment happen in such a short amount of time.
Being that the short story is short, authors need not concern themselves with unnecessary details that will distract from the authors goal. When writing short stories it may be appropriate to write and write and write, then cross out half of what has been written. This will help eliminate unnecessary, distracting details.
Short stories are not novellas either. Novellas are simply short novels and they strive for a similar effect of a novel. Some longer short stories may resemble a novella because of length but; the intent, design and focus is different.
The short story gives glimpses of lives and events; whereas, the novel or novella encapsulate entire lives and multiple events. Some short stories span whole lives, showing different glimpses of a life. This is different than a novel or novella because, the short story will show certain events that work toward its aim and focus.
Christopher Anderson is the owner and founder of Heliand Publishing. He is currently accepting short story submissions in five genres: Literary Fantasy, Modern Mythology, Religious/Spiritual Literature, Medieval Literature and Psychological Literature.
http://www.heliandpublishing.com/
If Failure Is A Dirty Word - It Pays To Know How To Clean It Up!
The flip side of the success coin is failure. In our culture, failure has almost become a taboo subject - and yet failure simply means lack of success. Learning from failure to gain the success you want isn’t magic - it’s called planning. In writing this is crucial, so let’s have a look at some pointers.
Planning is the key to success in many walks of life and in most careers and writing is no exception. If you are planning who to write for, have the correct target market, write the correct sort of material for that market and most importantly NEVER GIVE UP - then eventually (maybe the next story?) you WILL make the breakthrough!
Motivation of the self is not easy - I wouldn’t insult your intelligence by pretending it is. This is one reason I advocate going to a good writer’s group - the support you receive may well make all the difference between becoming a published writer and throwing in the towel in disgust!
Surveys have shown that over 70% of people questioned have put ‘writing a book’ in their all-time top ten of things to do in life. What they don’t show is how to go about doing it! Look at this way: Learning to drive a car is quite an achievement - being in charge of and responsible for over a ton of metal on the move is a serious business.
Yet millions of people can drive cars, despite the learning curve that it involves - so why can’t they write that longed-for book? The answer lies in one word: tuition. Someone actually teaches you to drive that car - how it goes, how it stops, how to make a left turn, when it’s safe to overtake - the list goes on and on. In fact, learning to drive is SO difficult that the real surprise is that so many people manage to do it at all!
So where do you find these tutors? Driving instructors fall out of the trees everywhere you look - but who is going to teach you how to write your book?
Above I mentioned writer’s groups. Belonging to a good one, where members aid each other and help is always at hand, is pure gold. But what about the times you can’t attend, or it’s not group night? There you sit; despondent and demotivated, realising that writing can be a very lonely job indeed. Maybe you turn to a ‘how-to’ book - maybe you look inside yourself for inspiration.
The point is that if your work is planned from start to finish you should never, ever dry up. So-called ‘writer’s block’ usually occurs during the writing of a book because you have hit a point where the plot is falling apart (due to lack of planning) and your back is against the wall with nowhere to go.
If, however, you plan your work in advance this won’t happen as all the bugs get ironed out of your story before you actually write it. You have probably heard the old mantra ‘fail to plan, plan to fail’? Well my mantra is ‘plan your finish and finish your plan’!
It really is that straightforward. Not easy - very few things that are worthwhile are easy - but achievable. Also, when you have an end in sight it’s so much easier writing your story - after all, you know just how close you are at any given time to that cliffhanger ending! So planning is the the key to overcoming failure - it unlocks the door to good practice in writing your story and lets you get on with the writing without having to worry about the plotting - because you did that already!
In summary, always treat failure - that rejected story for instance - as an opportunity to question your working methods. Did you indeed write the correct sort of story for your potential readers? Did you plan everything out about your story before you started writing? If you didn’t do either of these - put it right next time and the chances are far higher of that acceptance letter hitting your doormat!
Steve Dempster writes articles for the web and works of fiction. If you would like to get the know-how a novelist needs, visit his site at http://www.howtobeawriter.co.uk/page11.html
New Writers: Please Take Note!
Have you ever wondered how some writers seem to have plenty of ideas to work with and others very few? Well, here perhaps is one reason why . . .
If you have ever listened to anyone say something along the lines of ‘I had this most amazing dream last night - but I can’t just remember what it was about’ you may start to guess where I’m coming from.
Firstly, it’s not about writing about dreams! I just used that as an example of the nature of memory. Sometimes your memory is sharp and clear, usually about significant events. Ideas, however, can flutter off down the wind, never to be recovered. Just think about it and tell me you have never had an idea for a story that was gone ten minutes later!
So how to overcome this and retain those great ideas and thoughts that flit across your mind? Well, you could enrol in a memory-boosting course or practice mental control. Me? I use a notebook!
How simple is that? And yet so many people don’t resort to this most basic of aids. Many writers keep different notebooks for different projects - they aren’t used to write the actual story in, just to record thoughts and ideas, plotlines and character points and such like.
However, the notebook I’m talking about is, to me, the most important of all: I call it The Idea Book. Mine’s nothing special to look at - just a small spiral-bound notebook about four inches by three. It slips into any pocket and the spiral binding is great for holding a pen or pencil. It can be used anywhere, anytime. I leave it on my bedside table at night and if I have a vivid dream that wakes me, or I remember in the morning, I write it down quickly, before the mental imagery fades.
Some people think that notebooks are old-fashioned and use modern digital dictaphones or the like. I’ve tried them and yes, you can leave notes on them just fine. The problem I found was being in public and using one. Unless you’re a pretty out-going character, the attention you draw to yourself using such a device can be intimidating - especially if you’ve just had an idea about a juicy love scene for your new romantic novel!
Notebooks, on the other hand, are anonymous. Drag one out at the bus-stop and you could be writing your shopping list for all anyone standing nearby knows - not the case with a dictaphone. Budding writers are often very shy concerning enquiries about their writing and your trusty notebook will allow you to keep your ideas and thoughts private.
And don’t worry if your handwriting isn’t too good. As long as you yourself can read it, it doesn’t matter. By all means transcribe it into a word processing document later but keep your notebooks! You’ll be amazed when, leafing through them in the future, you find odd snippets and pieces that, when you wrote them, you just didn’t bother copying into Word. That’s one of the real values of a notebook - it’s a repository of nuggets that may well lay undisturbed for years.
The very first short story I had published came about that way. I was flipping through an old notebook and suddenly spotted an idea. I couldn’t even remember writing it down! I developed it, wrote it up, and got my first sale in a National women’s magazine. If that had been the only time my notebook paid off, it would have been worth carrying it. I can tell you where my notebook is right at this instant - it’s on the desk by my side. In fact, that little book gave me the idea for this article - I tossed it down and thought ‘what a good idea - writing about notebooks!’ And here’s the proof that carrying a notebook works - even though (this time) I didn’t write the idea down.
So I would advise you to bet a notebook as soon as you can. Go into your local stationery suppliers. Take your time about choosing one - it doesn’t have to be expensive but it must ‘feel right’ for you. It’s going to be with you for some time - until it’s full, in fact - so make sure it’s not too big or too small. Also, try to make sure it’s a common make. Why? Well, swapping notebook types can, believe it or not, be very irritating (as I found out). Once you’ve found your ideal notebook, you’ll want to stick with it.
And lastly - use it. This might sound obvious but using a notebook has to be habitual, not something you do to impress your non-writer friends, and the only way to form a habit is by repetition. Use it every day - even if it’s only to scribble a few notes about how your day has been. In less time than you think you will wonder how you ever got along without it - and all your thought and ideas are captured forever.
Steve Dempster writes fiction, copy and articles like the one above. For more advice on writing, visit his website at http://www.iwanttowrite.co.uk
Dialogue In Writing: Some Points You Should Consider
In short story writing, dialogue is very important for a number of reasons. I’ve listed a few below, not in order of importance - all are important - but to give a ‘points to ponder’ rundown. So - what about dialogue, then?
Dialogue can be defined as the interaction between two characters on a vocal level. Good dialogue can and should convey mood, information and move the story along.
It is important within a story specifically written for printing in, say, women’s magazines that there is dialogue within the story. Any story can be written as a narrative, that is to say as a descriptive passage - the ‘he said, she said, they went, they did this’ type of writing.
There’s nothing wrong with this at all, but on a magazine page it can look blocky and boring, with text-heavy paragraphs. Always try to intersperse dialogue - my research shows, very roughly, an 80/20 split between narrative and dialogue in women’s magazine stories.
Dialogue gives the reader an impression that the characters are real people - and that’s vital. Real people talk to each other, don’t they? However, characters in any story do NOT talk like real people. Let’s look at an example.
Real Life: ‘Hey, Tom - how are you? Did you stay late, er you know, after that row that Dan and Kate had? I mean, you know, that was really, well, quite a doozy. Could’ve wrecked the party, yeah? Don’t know what they were, you know, rowing about, do you?’
‘Hi, Bill, I’m fine. No, Mary and me had to get back for the sitter - you know how it is - so we left after a couple more drinks. Er, I haven’t seen Dan today, I think he’s working, maybe. But I think you’re right - the party was, like, finished by that row.’
Story Life: ‘Hi Tom, It’s Bill. That row between Dan and Kate was a real party killer, wasn’t it? Do you know what it was about?’
‘Not a clue. We left after a couple more drinks, anyway - the party was finished. I haven’t seen Dan since to ask him what the problem was.’
Which reads better? And yet the ’story life’ snippet is not the way people really talk to each other, is it? Prove it to yourself - next time you’re anywhere people are having a conversation, listen to all the ‘Ums’, ‘ah wells’ and ‘ers’.
The reason that this works for people in real life is that their communication isn’t restricted to speech. They convey emotion, opinion, suggestion and a host of other information by facial expression, tone of voice and body language - things that are very difficult to indicate accurately on the page. Too, the shorter, punchier speech used in ’story life’ moves the story along - and if you’ve only got 2,000 words to work with your story needs to move pretty quickly.
Dialogue can introduce tension into a story that’s almost impossible to include in narrative. Whilst it’s true that a good writer can wind his reader up to screaming pitch with expert narrative, there usually simply isn’t either room or a call for it in the 2,000-worder.
For an example of narrative power, try reading Steven King’s ‘The Shining’ - the part where the bushes seem to come to life. That’s narrative description at its best. It’s much easier - and quicker - for a novice writer to escalate tension, or indicate a mood or feeling, by use of tight, accurate dialogue.
Try an exercise. Write a dialogue piece about two people discussing the day’s news - maybe there’s been a building fire, or a politician has been exposed for dirty dealing - it doesn’t matter. Don’t worry about word length - take the dialogue to its conclusion. Dont use any narrative - make it a pure ‘talking heads situation.
When you have finished, rewrite it using half the wordage whilst still keeping all the main points of conversation. Do you notice the improvement? Now read both aloud. Which do you think reads better?
There should be a balance between dialogue and narrative. In the example I just asked you to write, I mentioned ‘talking heads’. There is a danger when writing dialogue that this is what your story becomes - one long conversation. Again, in real life this can happen but in story life it doesn’t.
A temptation creeps in when writing to include every last detail in dialogue - the exact opposite of the ‘he said, she said’ reportive narrative. Whilst a fairly long dialogue string is not a problem - it is especially good for building tension through the use of very short sentences - used to excess it can leave a pretty bare-looking page. Long dialogue takes room.
I’ve read novels where there are two, three and more full pages of solid dialogue. At least in a novel you have the room to do this - in a short story you’ll likely run out of wordage. Also, long dialogue strings can be tricky to handle if the reader is not to ‘get lost’.
This is especially true if the characters have a similar ‘voice - it’s much easier to keep the reader on track if you have two very different ‘voices for your characters. Consider how differently a lecturer may speak in your story compared with one of his or her students - and how much easier the dialogue string is to handle if it’s to go on for any length of time!
In conclusion, I can summarise that although dialogue is crucial to your story it mustn’t be allowed to dominate it. Always aim for a balance - the 80/20 split I mentioned earlier is a good benchmark to aim for as a novice short-story writer.
Keep sentences short, leave out ums, ahs and so forth - they have no real place in written dialogue unless for a special effect ( a person with a bad speech impediment, for instance). And read! It’s all a part of knowing how it’s done - and most good writers are voracious readers.
Get to know your market also - if you aim to write for women’s magazines - read them! (And guys - you can always pretend they’re for your wife or girlfriend at the checkout like I do!)
Steve Dempster writes short stories, longer fiction and articles for the internet. For more information about writing see his website at http://www.iwanttowrite.co.uk
Viewpoint Writing 2: How To Use Your Character’s ‘Voice’
There are some simple rules to remember when writing form a character’s viewpoint, yet many forget them. Here’s a rundown of some to remember . . .
No matter what language you speak, regional accents and dialect always give away your origin - unless of course you have had voice coaching. In the UK accent differences can be very subtle - for example, I can tell if someone is from my home town or a town just ten miles away. You can probably do this too.
When ‘building’ a character for your story, their ‘voice’ is very important - and not just accent or local patois. Listen to your friends. Let’s say for the sake of convenience you all grew up in the same part of town. You therefore all have the same accent and probably use much the same slang words and idiom. So what sets you apart?
It’s the way you talk. Some people talk rapidly, some are slow and thoughtful. Some have little speech mannerisms that mark them out. All these things add up to them being an individual, a real, live, talking person. Using your character’s ‘voice’ is therefore a powerful tool that helps your reader to identify with that character and so makes them much more real.
Let’s take an example. Three people are sat watching TV - grandmother, mother and daughter. They’re watching a movie. Suppose it’s ‘Pulp Fiction’. Now how do you think they would speak if asked to describe that movie? Maybe the grandmother would be scandalised by the sex and violence. Maybe the mother would be uncomfortable about her daughter seeing it. Perhaps the daughter just loves it.
So they all have different attitudes to the movie - but how do you think they would summarise it? Let’s see how this sounds.
Grandmother: I thought it a good movie but really, is all that bad language and shooting necessary?
Mother: Yes it was a good film but I thought it was rather violent and I was concerned about my daughter seeing it.
Daughter: I really enjoyed the movie - it was very thrilling and full of action.
Garbage, isn’t it? It all sounds the same - as if one person was saying all three lines. Maybe this is better:
Grandmother: I thought it a good movie but really, is all that bad language and shooting necessary?
Mother: I kind of liked it but, you know, I was a bit worried about my daughter being exposed to all that bloodshed and goings-on.
Daughter: A really cool movie - it was just so laid-back yet full of go at the same time, you know?
Now I’m not pretending that they would really speak like that - it’s just an illustration of ‘voice’. In this instance I kept the way the grandmother might speak as that was they style I used for all three in the first run-through. Have a bit of fun - rewrite it as if the daughter was the ‘voice’ for all three - it comes out just as bad as my first attempt did!
This extends into all your writing. In a previous article I mentioned our all-action hero, Jake Bullet, as he enters a bar where a gunman is waiting for him. Here in a few lines is the same scene from Jake’s viewpoint and that of his adversary.
As he turned and saw the guy heave a pistol our from beneath his coat, Jake exploded into action, leaping the length of the bar and crashing a fist into the gunman’s chin. Stood over the guy Jake turned to Henry. ‘That’s one thing he won’t try again. If he gets up I’m gonna bust his face.’
Pulling the pistol from under his jacket, Sam thought what a posing daisy this famous slick cop looked in his fancy suit. He was going to be easy. Then he froze as his mark jumped toward him. He just had time to think what a bum story his boss had given him about this creep cop before he saw stars and hit the floor. Bummer.
Again, it’s not a finished piece! It just gives an idea of how using a slightly different ‘delivery’ can help to identify the character. A point to note also is that the character’s ‘voice’ goes beyond dialogue. Sam’s way of thinking and some of his character comes out in the way he is described as seeing the scene. This is another aspect of viewpoint writing and ‘voice’ - describing the action as would the character - not you. Keep to this as your scene unfolds - remember, it’s your character who is doing the seeing and talking!
Steve Dempster writes fiction, copy and informative articles such as the one above. His website can be found at http://www.iwanttowrite.co.uk
Short stories - Dead In The Water Or Alive And Kicking?
The short story genre is one that is thriving - but only in certain places. Where are they?
A short story can be roughly defined as any work of fiction below about 12,000 words. A greater wordcount tends to move the story into the realms of the ‘Novella’ or Novelette’, a niche in the writing field that falls between the short story and the full-blown novel.
For many years the short story was a thriving branch of fiction but took a downturn during the middle section of the 20th. century. More publishers began to favour the novel as, understandably, they saw that a novel gave them more chance of turning a profit than a short story and, at the pinnacle, could be turned into a Hollywood blockbuster. But consider this - several short stories have been been the basis for not only movies but (oddly enough) a spin-off book! Perhaps the best known is ‘The Sentinel’ by Arthur C. Clarke. This went on to become one of the most famous films ever - ‘2001, A Space Odyssey’ - and then the book of the same name was written!
It’s interesting to note that, these days, one genre where the short story is thriving is in science fiction and fantasy. Magazines such as ‘The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction’ are still going strong after better than fifty years, whilst ezines such as ‘Interzone’ represent the new wave. If there’s one area a new writer can compete in, it’s the Sci-Fi or Fantasy short story.
If , however, you’re not the least bit interested - or capable - or writing within the Sci-Fi or Fantasy field, what is there left to you? Well, a great area for short story writers to work in is within the field of magazines for women. Some of these have readerships in the millions and most exceed circualtions of 100,000. That’s an awful lot of exposure for any writer! In fact, most novelists would consider their latest book a huge success if they sold copies in those sort of numbers.
Short story writing is also a great discipline for a writer. Often written to a strict wordcount, and for a very discriminating audience, any writer will benefit from writing short stories - they encourage tight plotting, good character development and real attention to detail. Indeed, many short story writers have said that the experience they gained in the short story field was of huge value when they came to write longer work.
There is also a category of writer who writes only short stories. Again in the Sci-Fi field, Isaac Asimov is remembered for his famous ‘Robot’ books (the recent film ‘I Robot’ was based on his work), but his most prolific writing was in the short story field, in which he wrote literally hundreds of short stories, not only in Sci-Fi but also Crime and Mystery - his ‘Black Widowers’ stories being amongst the most fascinating ever written in the field.
These areas - Sci-fi/fantasy and women’s magazines - are then two major areas where short stories are not only holding on but are in fact thriving. If you want experience in writing and to see your name in print, they are a good way of achieving the status of ‘published author’. That’s not to say they are easy markets - competition can be fierce. However, they have been for many years the entrance level for many authors and there’s no reason you cannot follow in their footsteps.
Steve Dempster writes short stories, longer fiction and of course articles such as this one. If you would like to find out more about writing fiction, his website can be found at http://iwanttowrite.co.uk
Fiction Writing: Getting Your Events In Order
In fiction writing, events occur in strict chronological order. If you would like to know what this means, please read on!
In previous articles I’ve used my fictional tongue-in-cheek character Detective Jake Bullett to help me along. Jake’s tough and gets into a lot of scrapes where things happen quickly. Let’s see what a sample could be like:
‘Jake lashed out and the gunman fell over, taking Jake with him. At the same time Sally screamed ‘Look out, Jake!’ and Jake saw another man pulling a gun as he scrambled free.’
Jake’s in trouble, and so is this snippet. Yes, it’s how things happen in real life - it all happens at once - but this is not real life; it’s fiction. In any fictional piece, be it short story or epic novel - things happen one at a time. It’s a convention in writing and it sure makes life a lot easier for the writer!
The above snippet would be written something more like this:
‘Jake lashed out. The gunman fell over on top of Jake. Jake scrambled free from beneath the gunman. Sally screamed ‘Look out, Jake!’ Jake saw another man pull a gun out.’
Yes, it’s wooden, but it’s just an illustration of chronological writing. One thing happens, THEN another, THEN another, until the sequence of events are over. If you are writing in an active mode - i.e., things are occurring at the moment, this is how it’s done.
In this type of writing, words such as ‘while’, ‘as’, and phrases such as ‘at the same time that’ are not to be used. Beginners, in their efforts at total realism, use these words a lot: ‘She screamed as the shark bit her leg.’ Wrong. ‘The shark bit her leg. She screamed.’ is correct because she woudn’t scream BEFORE the shark bit her! Similarly, you wouldn’t write ‘He laughed as the man fell over.’ It would be ‘The man fell over. He laughed.’ It’s cause and effect.
Let’s look at that shark again. Could the sentence ‘She screamed as the shark bit her leg’ also have been written ‘She screamed AND the shark bit her leg.’? (Okay, maybe the shark bit her because she screamed but for this example it didn’t happen that way. No startled sharks on my watch!). Of course it doesn’t sound right at all, does it?
This is because the two events did NOT happen at the same time. As I said, until the shark bit her, she had no reason to scream. So - bite=action, scream=reaction. That is how it works and, if you can remember this simple rule ‘action then reaction’ you will find your active writing sequences read a whole lot better.
So don’t think that trying to describe events as they occur in the real world works in fiction. It doesn’t. Remember that a thing has to happen before it is reacted to. If things really do have to happen at the same time, and it’s important to show this fact, use ‘-ing’: ‘Keeping his hand steady, Jake squeezed the trigger.’ is a correct example, NOT ‘Jake kept his handy steady as he squeezed the trigger.’ The difference is subtle but important.
Another point to remember when you’re in the thick of an active sequence is: don’t summarise. Don’t say things like ‘Jake told Sally what had happened.’ Show it happening, as it happens, one thing after another - or leave it out altogether.
There are no tricks to writing in this style - and it’s a great way of writing really explosive action pieces as well as tense, nail-biting scenes. Master the simple art of chronological writing and you will see your work improve immensely.
Steve Dempster writes fiction, copy and informative article such as the one above. For more information about writing in general, try visiting his website at http://www.iwanttowrite.co.uk
Fiction Writing: Short Story Subjects That Sell
When writing for women’s magazines it’s important to know the themes that work - and those that don’t. Here we take a look at popular magazine themes.
First off, here’s a question. What kind of stories do you think are printed in women’s magazines? If you don’t read them, chances are that you’ll say ‘romance’. Well, you would only be half-right. Romance still figures highly within their pages but these days it’s not the traditional stuff.
Years ago the mainstay of this kind of magazine was traditional boy-meets-girl kind of stories, though these could be contemporary, period or historical. These days the romance is often entwined with more modern themes - single parents, revenge on a straying partner, kids’ problems and the like. Stories tend to be grittier and more true-to-life - and not all have to have a happy ending.
So what other themes are popular? Here are a few themes that are popular in modern magazines:
- Warm stories about children, teenagers and family problems of various kinds.
- Stories with a thriller element,even crime so long as they are not violent or too threatening.
- Stories about family relationships, particularly between siblings.
- Offbeat stories with a ‘twist in the tail’.
There are also storylines that don’t work. Any work that contains violence, explicit sex, cruelty to anything, child abuse in any form or highly controversial issues is virtually guaranteed a trip to the rubbish bin. That’s not to say it’s rubbish - it’s just the wrong kind of work sent to the wrong place. If you want to write stories with hard-line, adult themes then this market is probably not for you - although there are other markets you could well succeed in.
Most women’s magazines want stories that will entertain their readers for five minutes or so, let them ‘escape’ from their everyday world while they enjoy a cup of coffee on a workbreak or at lunch. The theme therefore should be intriguing, uplifting if possible - and of course entertaining. Consider, therefore, what they, the reader want - and what they don’t want.
What they want is to read about someone - usually a woman, as women are almost 100% the lead characters in these particular stories - who faces a situation that causes a problem but who wins out in the end. It’s important that the story be kept simple, even though the theme may be quite intense. The reader may not have - or wish to spend - a lot of time unravelling a complex plot!
Though the story itself should be simply written that’s not to say it shouldn’t be well written. In fact, writing a 1200-word short-short in a simple fashion that manages to be entertaining is a trying discipline. However, mastery the technique allied to the right theme for your story gives you a real fighting chance of publication.
To summarise - study your market. Though the themes listed above are tried and tested, fashions and tastes change. New editors are appointed and very often change a magazine’s story themes as a matter of course. It pays to know what’s going on - and you would be amazed at the number of submitting writers who don’t. Always be aware of what your reader wants, write in the theme in vogue, keep your writing focused and someday soon it should be your door that acceptance letter drops through!
Steve Dempster writes fiction, copy and informative article such as the one above. He’s also a ghostwriter. For more information about writing in general, try visiting his website at http://www.iwanttowrite.co.uk
Fiction Editing - Story Sense And Logic
Your story, be it novel, short story or novelette, is finished. Or is it? Before you send it to a publisher, check firstly that your story makes sense!
Maybe you read my article about The Final Draft. Well, before you reach that stage there’s this one to go through. It can be hard and you need to be tough with yourself, castings an editor’s eye - not that of a writer - over your work. So what is there to look for when editing and how do you go about it?
The first thing to do is to print your story out onto paper. Don’t ask me why but editing just doesn’t seem to work the same if you do it on your computer or word-processor. Then read your story. You might think this a waste of time - after all, you wrote it! - but I assure you that you’ll find mistakes, typos and a host of other little mistakes.
They’re easy to correct. Mark them in pencil as you go along. When you have finished your read through it’s time to begin editing in earnest. You will have almost certainly noticed plotting errors and the usual howlers present in every first draft (I speak from experience!) but here’s a rundown of vital points to check off during the editing process.
1. Do your characters behave as they should? Remember that, in fiction, people seldom if ever act ‘out of character’ - if your character has changed, this needs attention.
2. Do your characters react to each other as they should? Events in your story may well change the feelings and emotions your characters display towards each other. Do they mention events that have happened to them within the story? Real people would - your characters should follow suit.
3. Will it be obvious to the reader what the characters are doing - and why they are doing it? This needs to be made clear to the reader otherwise the ‘thread’ of the story may be lost altogether, your reader will become confused - and the story, for them, is over.
4. Do your characters react believably to circumstances? Again, this goes back to character action - don’t have a character brush off a situation if their character sheet says they would go berserk with rage at a given event - if this is evident, your plotting needs to be looked at. Don’t change your character’s reactions to paper over cracks in the plot!
5. Does your story timeline run true? It’s very easy to have someone in two places at once if you’re not in control of this critical thread. If you have a sub-plot, or, worse still, several sub-plots running, this can rapidly spiral out of control. Use a timeline record to help you control event timing, i.e. ‘10 pm Monday - Jake and Sally at Harry’s bar. Big Mike robbing bank.’ This ensures that Jake and Big Mike don’t ‘meet up’ somewhere at that hour!
Checking the above points will take time, effort and dedication. However, if you do not ensure that your story makes sense according to the points above, the only time you waste will be your own. Why? Simple. Editors today do not expect - and indeed will not tolerate - stories that simply don’t ‘hang together’. The days of droves of sub-editors making good your sloppy work are well and truly gone.
So - edit and re-edit. Be brutal. Be honest with yourself and your work and you will be streets ahead of those who do not take the time and effort that you do. Writing fiction is hard work - it’s up to you to make certain your work is the best it can be. I look forward to seeing you in print!
Steve Dempster writes fiction, copy and informative articles such as the above. He also ghostwrites. If you would like more information and advice on writing in general, pay his website a visit at http://www.iwanttowrite.co.uk